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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/24332938">Earth and Pine</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Frostbite711/pseuds/Frostbite711'>Frostbite711</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Dragon Age: Inquisition</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>F/M, Fluff, Mild Smut, Romance</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-05-23</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-05-23</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-04 06:27:16</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,537</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/24332938</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Frostbite711/pseuds/Frostbite711</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Blackwall | Thom Rainier/Female Inquisitor</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>3</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Earth and Pine</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Soft lips brushed against the skin of her neck, her love’s bare chest pressed against her own while his strong arms engulfed her. Her delicate yet tough hands used to holding a staff brushed against her love’s back while he gently caressed her shoulder blades with his hands. He pulled away his kisses for a moment to look into her eyes.<br/>
“Are you ready?” He asked her, his deep voice that was smooth as honey soothing her.<br/>
“Yes,” she said with a nod.<br/>
Slowly yet carefully, she felt something that she knew was part of him enter her and she let out a sigh, reaching a hand up to brush her hand against his beard. He smiled at her and then once they were connected, began to move inside her.<br/>
She didn’t feel the prickles of hay poking her skin, neither did she care as she lost herself in the moment. Lost herself in him.<br/>
What transpired in that lost above his workshop could only be considered magical. And she fell asleep feeling blissful and loved, surrounded by the smell of the earth and pine.<br/>
When she awoke, she didn’t care about her nakedness or where she was. Instead, she realized her love was nowhere to be found. “Blackwall?” She called, getting up and putting her clothes on as she looked for him.<br/>
Once she reached down stairs, she spotted a note on the griffin she remembered seeing him carve with such gentle and loving care, care he’d shown her last night.<br/>
There is little I can say that will ease this pain. Just know that while it hurt to leave, it would’ve hurt more if I stayed.<br/>
I am deeply sorry.<br/>
As she read the note, she frowned, becoming confused. What did he mean by that?<br/>
It wasn’t until she exited his workshop that one of the inquisition soldiers informed her of a letter that had been missing from Lelianna’s reports. The soldier reported that it seemed to have been of interest to Blackwall.<br/>
The letter spoke of someone named Thom Rainier who was guilty of murder and how one of the men under him had been captured and was going to be executed.<br/>
She pursued her lips. This was serious. She would have to investigate this, she had a feeling it had to do with the other note she’d found on the griffin. Stealing herself, Thalia straightened and set out for Val Royeaux to find out what had interested Blackwall and why he had left. She just hoped that whatever happened, she would be able to stop him from doing something rash.</p><p>He had lied...lied about who he was. He had sent his men to kill someone and then ran. Part of her wanted to collapse there in the street as she looked up at him, feeling her heart begin to break. Not just for herself, but for him. But she knew she couldn’t. She had to stay strong -- so many people depended on her, if she broke now in front of everyone, it wouldn’t help the Inquisition.<br/>
She put on a brave face, and once she’d gotten the courage, she went to visit him in the dungeon. It hurt her to see him like this, to see him behind bars and looking broken and defeated.<br/>
As she approached his cell, he looked up at her. “I didn’t want you to see me like this,” he said softly. The sound of his voice, so broken and frail made her heart ache even more.<br/>
“You’re not who you said you were, and you came to admit your wrong doings. And yet...you thought it would be better to lie to me? To leave me not knowing what happened to you?”<br/>
“Wouldn’t you be happier thinking I was a noble man, a Grey Warden, instead of this? I would’ve saved you the pain if learning all you knew about me was a lie. That you loved a lie.” As she spoke the rest, his voice broke and all she wanted to do was reached down and hold him, to help him.<br/>
She turned from him, and before she left, she said one final thing to him, even though it tortured her to leave. “We all lie and make mistakes. What’s important is that we learn from them and atone to our mistakes. Even if you don’t believe in yourself, I believe in you, the good I saw in you.” And with that, she left him in his cell, knowing full well she would do what she could to make him see that he could be the man he wanted to be.<br/>
As she exited the cell and was approached by Cullen, she didn’t hesitate as she had already decided that she was going to help Blackwall see the good inside him. “Break him out and bring him to Skyhold, whatever it takes. I will judge him there,” she said.<br/>
“Of course, Inquisitor,” Cullen said before he let her go.<br/>
She knew this would not be the end, she would not let the man she loved, the man who showed her what it was like to be loved by another, just give up. She reached up and wiped a tear as it tried to slide down her cheek as she finally allowed her emotions to release just a small bit. There would be more time to deal with this back at Skyhold, so for now, for now she would bury her emotions until she could safely deal with them where she was not needed to put on a brave face.<br/>
Once at Skyhold, she paced back and forth a bit before the throne she would sit in to judge her love. It would take courage to do this. Courage she needed to muster, but all she could think about was how broken he’d looked in that cell and how her heart ached when she’d seen him like that.<br/>
Pursing her lips, she turned to Josephine. “Please bring Black-Thom Rainier for judgement,” she said, calming her emotions as she sat down in the chair and awaited him.<br/>
As he was brought forth to her in chains, it took all her strength not to leap out of her chair and kiss him, to undo the chains with her magic...but she held back. She lifted her head to him, gripping the edge of her chair to steady her.<br/>
“Using your influence to break me out of prison shows you are a criminal like me. That the Inquisition is corrupt,” he said, looking up at her.<br/>
Thalia was silent. Yes, she knew using her influence could cost her. She had always known that, even as a First, before she’d become the Inquisitor. Her words had influence, as did her actions.<br/>
“You may have resigned yourself to the fate you sought after your mistakes you’d made, but I have not. As I said before, you are not the only one who has lied or made mistakes. This...is harder than I would have imagined, but I am not ready to let you die when you have the opportunity to make up for your mistakes, to be the man you wanted to be -- be  the man I fell in love with.”<br/>
“I…” he paused. “I do not deserve forgiveness for what I’ve done. How would you want me to atone?”<br/>
“You will live from now on not as the warden you pretended to be or the traitor you thought you were, but as the man you are now. Live with honesty, both to yourself and to everyone else.”<br/>
“I do not deserve this. I lied about what I was, but I didn’t lie about what I felt. No matter what I was or what I become, right now, I’m just a man with his heart laid bare. I leave it in your hands,” he said.<br/>
As he spoke those words, she felt her heart begin to ache again and again she fought the urge to get to her feet and rush over to him. She was all too aware of everyone watching them, even while she felt them fading to the background while she focused on him. His eyes, which saw into her. And even without knowing her past, loved her and accepted her, much like she did with him.<br/>
“You were ready to die, but I wasn’t ready to let you go,” she said, getting to her feet. It took all her will power to hold herself back from embracing him. “It will be a different change of pace, but so long as we are both willing to learn from this, to strive to be better, I am willing to try,” she said.<br/>
“I...it will be nice not having to lie to you. I love you, Thalia,” he said, lowering his voice at her name.<br/>
At the sound of her name on his lips, a name that only a select few of the Inquisition used, she couldn’t hold herself back. She placed one hand on the side of his face and leaned over to kiss him, gently pressing her lips against his. She inhaled deeply before she pulled away, her senses being wafted by the scent of earth and pine.</p>
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